1. Home
  2. analog
  3. 196702-137065

Vinyl foibles

I'd like to make this a space to ask questions about vinyl problems you're having trouble solving. I have a lot of questions, but I think it's better if we ask one at a time, or else I think we could have long lists.

Here is my first question. I have a Degritter album washer. I think it works great. I wash all my albums once, but not before I play them again and again.  Somehow, though, and this includes new albums no one else has ever touched, they pick up ticks and what sounds like scratches. I rewash the album and it sounds like new again. I only touch albums by their edges. How do inner bands become so dirty that sometimes a smudge can last a minute or more?  I've been playing vinyl albums for more years than many of you have lived, and I have learned to be very careful with vinyl. Are there vinyl gremlins haunting my album shelves?

audio-b-dog
kennyc
2,900 posts
 

What do you do with your favorite albums that get worn out?

Discogs to purchase another in better condition 

audio-b-dog's avatar
audio-b-dog OP
802 posts
 

@mylogic 

I have mounted many cartridges. I use an electronic scale for the cartridge weight. A professional protractor. My iPhone magnifying glass to see if the angle of he stylus is 90 degrees to the record. I don't really know what else to do to be more accurate.I'm not in Australia so you could come over and take a look.

@kennycat 

I do what you do. Go to Discogs. If they don't have a decent copy, I look for mint-, I'll try other sources or perhaps a VG+ that sounds good.

audio-b-dog's avatar
audio-b-dog OP
802 posts
 

I use a Moon 280D streamer. I guess it is at the bottom of the high-end. Still it sounds good to my ear. If it errs, it's on the musical side. 

I own vinyl records that I can also stream at 192 kHz sampling with a 24 bit word length. It sounds awfully good. Maybe not quite as present as an album, but that might just be my relatively inexpensive streamer.

Are any of you streaming, and if so, how do high bit-rate albums sound versus your vinyl rig? It seems to me, when I hit 96 kHz, it starts to sound pretty damn good.

kennyc
2,900 posts
 

I do what you do. Go to Discogs. If they don’t have a decent copy, I look for mint-, I’ll try other sources or perhaps a VG+ that sounds good.

Ditto Mint- (near Mint).  But to circumvent some wear, maybe a different shape/style stylus (likely narrower) than what was used before to get to unworn parts of the groove.

Lusting for DS Audio which is quieter.

I have to purchase a Degritter also, haven’t broke the news to my wife yet- self preservation. Timing is key minimize friction in hobby purchases. Audio sounds awful in doghouses;)

faustuss's avatar
faustuss
821 posts
 

@audio-b-dog 

I wasn't suggesting that changing the capacitance of your phono pre was altering the sound character of your Sonus Faber's in any way just that their tonal balance may not be too your taste. My bad you were talking about your XP-25.

In the simplest of terms - the resistance and inductance of the moving coil create a high frequency resonance which is damped by the input impedance of the phono preamp. Lower input impedance more damped higher less damped. Elevating top-end caused by improper loading or too high an impedance results in high frequency distortion making the top end sound edgy and bright.

More to discover